Business awards cite work of locals Pierce-Jordan and Plummer

Wednesday

PORTSMOUTH — Two Seacoast women were among those honored as 2014 Outstanding Women in Business Award winners by the New Hampshire Business Review.

PORTSMOUTH — Two Seacoast women were among those honored as 2014 Outstanding Women in Business Award winners by the New Hampshire Business Review.

Sandra Pierce-Jordan, executive director of The Birchtree Center in Newington, and Renee Plummer, vice president of marketing at Two International Group in Portsmouth, were among those honored at a Feb. 11 reception at the Manchester Country Club in Bedford.

Pierce-Jordan, a Ph.D. recipient, has spent her entire professional career working with people with autism, and her expertise has grown along with the rising demand for autism services.

She came to the nonprofit Birchtree Center as a behavior analyst in 2007 after more than a decade as a consultant serving children and adults with autism in their homes and schools. The Birchtree Center provides two core programs: a day school for children age 2 and 21 with autism, as well as an outreach program that provides support to students with autism in schools and agencies in Maine, New Hampshire and Massachusetts.

In 2009, Pierce-Jordan was promoted to program director and in early 2011 she was appointed executive director after the previous director's abrupt departure. She has turned Birchtree around since her appointment, bringing it from an organization with a $31,000 annual operating deficit to a $364,000 surplus; increasing enrollment in its programs to capacity; approving its first-ever strategic plan; increasing the total number of students served by 21 percent; and increasing annual revenue from $2.7 million to $3.1 million, thanks in part to two new annual fund-raisers. She has also introduced policies that support employees, including flex time and giving preference to internal candidates for job openings (nearly two-thirds of Birchtree's program staff on the management team started as instructors).

Plummer has led Two International Group, a commercial real estate development firm, as one of the driving forces guiding the successful transformation of Pease International Tradeport from a shuttered Air Force base into a thriving business and industrial park. When Two International Group was breaking ground on its first building at Pease, it faced a daunting task: It was building on spec without any tenant commitments and some observers doubted Pease would be able to attract businesses.

So Plummer had an idea. She called a Wall Street Journal reporter and convinced him to write an article on the redevelopment at Pease. The article created a buzz, tenants began to show interest "and the rest is history," Plummer said.

For years, Plummer has been involved with Exeter Hospital's Fashions by the Sea fund-raiser. She's also helped organize and raise money for many of the Seacoast's most notable events, such as the Boston-Portsmouth Air Show, the USS New Hampshire commissioning, Scarecrows of the Port and many more. In 2006, she started her own charity, the Granite Springs Foundation, which helps other nonprofits raise money. In 2010, Plummer was named the third most influential person on the Seacoast by Seacoast Media Group, as well as the Greater Portsmouth Chamber of Commerce's Volunteer of the Year.

Profiles of all those honored will be featured and all nominees will be listed in the Feb. 21 issue of NHBR. For information, visit www.nhbr.com.

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